Vinit Bansode suggests how graphology and practising small writing sessions everyday can help in maintaining new pledges
It’s that time of the year again when you take stock of your life, reflect on your shortcomings and pledge to start afresh. While there could be some most genuine resolutions made on the new year, these also turn out to be the most “broken” ones. From taking a pledge to adopt a healthier lifestyle to giving more of ourselves to our near and dear ones, our resolutions are like milestones set by our conscience so as to follow a path that will be good for us. Psychologists estimate that approximately 50 per cent of the population makes resolutions each year, which are primarily focussed on weight loss, exercising, quitting smoking and being able to manage money better. Alas, a few months into the new year, most of these are broken, due to several reasons, bringing us back to where we started from. And the struggle begins again.
Reason for failure
Resolutions are an effort to renew oneself. People look at resolutions as a way of motivating themselves and making their lifestyles a little better. However, having said that, people are never ready to change their habits, particularly the bad ones, and that accounts for the high failure rate. Making resolutions work involves changing behaviour and in order to do that, you have to change your thinking. When goals are set, we have to make them specific and timebound. But it turns out that those characteristics are precisely the reasons goals can fail. A specific timebound goal drives behaviour that is narrowly focussed and often leads to either cheating or myopia. Yes, we often reach the goal, but at what cost?
How can graphology help
Changing the way you write can change your approach towards life. Graphology is a proven science that can express the current thought pattern of a person by the way they present their writings. To the untrained eye, some notes scribbled on a piece of paper may seem to be innocuous and only the content of the note may be of any significance. But a recent study from the University of Haifa, Israel shows that your handwriting actually says more about you than you think. You may notice that when you are sad or tired, your handwriting may be just a scrawl. And then on the days when you are chirpy, you display bubbly, curvaceous, and uplifting strokes. Though the basic steadiness of your natural writing remains the same, the mood of your writing undergoes differences which only a keen observer may notice. Researchers have already developed a computerised system that measures and analyses even the smallest detail of an individual’s handwriting such as the amount of pressure applied while writing or even the space between the letters/words.
Many people ask whether a person can change their personality with a mere change in their handwriting. Is it that simple? The answer is yes. It can be done through the science of graphology, which is different as compared to other sciences, and the deeper you study it, many new and hidden aspects of disposition of a person will be revealed to you. Handwriting of a person reveals the pattern of thinking and the psychological state of a person. It is, in fact, a direct reflection of a person’s thoughts. Graphotherapy helps understand these patterns and bring a change in the handwriting which can help you make the desirable changes in your lives. Then over a period of regular practice of 30-40 days, these adaptations start reflecting in your behaviour as well.
It’s not the written content but only the handwriting that needs to be read. The way to change is not merely to compel oneself to follow the resolution. Instead, a small graphology exercise on focus can help bring about the change. Every morning, as soon as you wake up, make a habit of practising to write a little — something, anything — putting a heavy pressure on the paper. This needs to be done first thing in the morning before getting involved in other chores like reading the newspaper or responding to notifications on your smartphone. Make a to-do list or some diary entry of the previous night, this will tremendously help improve your focus. You will be able to put a lot of thought in every action and increase your concentration level. The check list that you made in that morning hour will instantly grab your focus and your day will be more dedicated towards doing it.
This is what graphology does. It detects and sets an alarm prior to your setting of the resolution. Here are some ways to understand it better:
- Check if your handwriting is larger than usual. In that case, your “characters” do not support your consideration to resolutions.
- People with many friends often display a need to be loved and appreciated, which is reflected in their handwriting. Such people hate to be tied down to resolutions that require monotonous repetition because they cannot stay focussed.
- People who have a large handwriting do not worry about small things. They are quick to leave behind unpleasant experiences and get on with life. This would explain giving little importance to a small but significant change in life that was their resolution but then they simply don’t find it meaningful enough to hold on.
Apart from the purpose of increasing focus, graphology has also proven effective in parenting techniques, for purposes of effective HR policies, hiring, and team-building as well as for entrepreneurs who can hone their leadership skills by modifying their signature.
Resolutions can be made with the beginning of every year but this graphology practice done for a certain tenure, daily, can improve the thought pattern and hence, the quality of everyday life. One good habit is better than a verbal resolution. Do think about it and implement it.
(The author is the founder of The Graphology Research Institute, India.)
